I have to tell you a secret, I really enjoy embroidery. It’s not something I do as much as, say, sewing, but it’s a very relaxing thing to do and adds such a great detail to objects and garments. I know it’s weird and deeply Regency England of me, and in point of fact it used to be required behavior for all “gently brought up young women” (you never hear about the roughly brought up young women, now, do you? Well, not outside of Moll Flanders). But I’ve always loved the look of embroidery, so when Spool (that place is my crack den, I swear) had these adorable little embroidery kits with animals bleating their respective calls, I was helpless in the face of such cuteness. So I got one. And then I discovered the wonder that is Sublime Stitching, and, through Casey over at Elegant Musings, found all these free embroidery transfers, and, what can I say, sign me up for the Marriage Mart and advertise about my dowry because I’m hooked.

This all does bring up an interesting issue, and that is, crafting and creating and gender roles. All joking aside, just to be clear, I don’t craft and make things because I think that as a woman it’s something I ought to do. A friend and I were having this long discussion the other day and I mentioned that I do a lot of things (cook, sew, craft, etc.) that would seem to subscribe to traditional gender roles, i.e. Donna Reed would be so proud of me. But I also do lots of other things like write and work at my day job and make theater and drink whiskey and I enjoy doing all of these things. And ultimately it all comes down to choices, and whether or not it’s my choice to sew and make candles and bake cakes and embroider birds on sweaters, or whether I’m doing it because it’s expected of me, because it’s “what I should do”, because it’s “what’s done” (such an achingly WASPy phrase, don’t you think?). There is this amazing new generation of people discovering these crafts and art forms and exploring them and I think that’s fantastic and admirable, and I think, or I hope, it has nothing to do with what genital organs you have. In the classic words of Miss Pigglewiggle vs. The Little Girl Who Talked Back “I’ll do it because I want to, not because you told me to.” Preach.

Okay, jumping off my soapbox now, onto the photos!

A pillow of Babushkas! Or more correctly, Matrushka dolls. The pattern is from Sublime Stitching. Love!

The biggest one. CUTE!

This is a cashmere cardigan my mother gave me. It was hers, but it was too big, so I took it in on the sides and gave it a bluebird!

This was my first Embroidery project.

I added a border. I love how the lion is so stoic. It reminds me of someone else I know: